


with whom you can work well

by justaddfiction



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Blind Character, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 18:03:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11468805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justaddfiction/pseuds/justaddfiction
Summary: On Velvet's left shoulder in small, pastel green writing, there read “I look forward to working together for a long time.” On her left hip, in dark brown, was “Hey there, short stuff. What are the odds?” And in maroon on her right wrist, “Thanks for the heads up.” The green was in orderly script, the brown in a proud, loopy flourish, and most curiously, the red was printed in what was commonly referred to as “standard” - for those who, for whatever reason, didn’t have handwriting.





	with whom you can work well

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [What Did You Just Say?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5277302) by [Shade_OKiller](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shade_OKiller/pseuds/Shade_OKiller). 



> This fic is dedicated to Agew, who has been its number one fan and cheerleader since I wrote it in a fit of motivation and executive function a few months back. It is also partially dedicated to confusedPaladin, who loves poly CFVY.
> 
> While the bigger fic I was going to write has moved laterally to a different variation on the soulmate au, I dusted this off for publication before archiving the google doc. I hope someone enjoys it!

When Velvet Scarlatina was five years old, three phrases appeared on her skin. She saw them as she was changing into pajamas, and approached her mother about them. Her mother explained kindly that yes, these were her soul words, and apparently she had, oh goodness, three soulmates. 

On her left shoulder in small, pastel green writing, there read “I look forward to working together for a long time.” On her left hip, in dark brown, was “Hey there, short stuff. What are the odds?” And in maroon on her right wrist, “Thanks for the heads up.” The green was in orderly script, the brown in a proud, loopy flourish, and most curiously, the red was printed in what was commonly referred to as “standard” - for those who, for whatever reason, didn’t have handwriting.

In her free time, between school, amateur photography, and self-defense classes, she’d daydream about her soulmates. The one with the brown script, she guessed was probably a girl, and was definitely flirtatious. Green script was polite, friendly, with neat but relaxed handwriting. She felt at ease seeing it on her shoulder. Red text was the most mysterious. Why couldn’t they write? Were they raised outside the kingdoms and never learned how? 

And then, there was the question of whether any of her soulmates were soulmates with each other. What if two of them were but not the other? What if all of them were? None? Would they have other soulmates? And who spoke first in each exchange? Who was human and who faunus?

As she daydreamed, she often held her left side with her right hand, so the three marks more or less lined up. It became a sort of comfort for her, a reminder that she was destined for a remarkable abundance of love. Even as she suffered through hateful remarks, mocking her ears, aggressively catcalling the “bunny girl,” even as she crossed her arms and looked down, shrinking away from human hate, she was reminding herself of how loved she would be. It gave her courage even as she seemed to cower.

It was this courage, combined with her remarkable skill in self-defense, that drove her toward combat school. While in training, she learned that at the national combat schools, they would be placed in teams of four, evoking the four kingdoms. She hoped at least one of her future teammates had their writing on her skin.

After years of grueling work training for grimm combat and crafting an absurdly complicated weapon, she applied to Beacon and passed the entrance exams handily. Her first night was a flurry of introductions, but no one she met said the words she’d memorized so long ago. She tried not to be disappointed; maybe tomorrow she’d meet some new faces.

The next morning at Beacon Cliff, she was launched into the Emerald Forest with simple instructions about partnership and relics. She sailed through the air, expending one precious film negative to make a copy of her sister’s grappling hook and swing gracefully to the ground. She somersaulted to ease the landing, and as she stood up, she stared directly at an enormously tall, burly boy dressed in brown, black, and green. Looking up, she saw he had gentle brown eyes that were looking directly at her own. She could work with this.

“Looks like we’re partners,” she said amicably, extending a hand out towards him. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Velvet.” 

His eyes widened in surprise, and he was silent for a moment before clasping her hand in his own, giant one. He spoke carefully. “I look forward to working together for a long time.”

Velvet froze. Her world shrank down to the two of them for the briefest moment before returning to normal. Was he--?

She released the handshake and pulled down the shoulder of her top, sliding the armor down with it. “Is this your handwriting?” she asked, excitedly.

He smiled and nodded. “Yes. I believe this is yours?” He replied, turning his head to the side. Behind his ear, written in her own handwriting in soft brown, was what she’d just said.

She jumped up in her enthusiasm, rocking on the balls of her feet. “Oh my goodness, it’s so good to finally meet you! My name is Velvet, Velvet Scarlatina.”

“Yatsuhashi Daichi.” 

“Yatsuhashi,” she repeated, testing his name in her voice. It felt rhythmic, lyrical. He emanated centering calm and intimidating strength, dangerous but never to her. He was, so far, everything she didn’t know she wanted, a missing piece of her puzzle locked into place. Of course she barely knew anything about him, but they had all the time in the world to change that.

***

One of the downsides to being blind was how it interfered with soul marks. Fox Alistair had never seen the words that sprawled on his leg, his arm, and the back of his neck (though he supposed he wouldn’t have been able to see that last one very well anyway). The colors his mother described, two shades of brown and one of green, like a forest or like chocolate mint candy, were lost on him. And since he couldn’t write, his own words on his soulmates would appear in “standard,” giving them an impression of his disability before his personality. He was fortunate that his three soulmates had long and unique things to say in introduction, one even including her name, but he knew it was pure luck that he wasn’t stuck with three “Hello”s. All in all, he found the system irritating. He complained to no one in particular, mostly just to the universe at large, that the whole institution of soulmates wasn’t very accessible. The universe never responded.

As he grew up, he learned about the constant threat outside the walls of the four kingdoms, the fragile existence of peace and security amid a world of chaos, and the danger of life outside. His heart went out to the innocent people trying to live their lives amid monstrous threats, and the huntsmen defiantly combating those threats. The worst part, to him, was that the grief, shame, and desperation of losing only stacked the odds higher against them. One misstep could send a whole civilization crumbling in a vicious cycle of loss, grief, and incoming enemies. He submitted a complaint to the universe that the grimm were allowed to exist. The universe never responded.

He felt called to combat, not least because of the words he was destined to hear. In basic aura training, he accidentally discovered his semblance: echolocation. With a small amount of aura spent, he could briefly see the world around him in black and white fine detail.  He submitted a complaint to the universe that it let him have a taste of sight, only at the cost of his defensive reserves. The universe never responded.

So, he decided that the universe could go fuck itself, and he’d destroy the grimm himself with his ridiculous semblance. He threw himself into training, and though he ran out of aura much faster than his classmates due to constant use of his semblance, he wore his battle scars with pride. He could see for himself the raised skin in slashes down his arms, unlike the flat letters he had to have others read for him. He wore long gloves, long pants, and a high-necked top to avoid questions. At least his aura depleting so often meant others had witnessed the color of his aura; it was apparently “maroon,” which had been described to him as a dark red, the color of blood or wine, approximately. It was nice to know, but not very helpful.

The night before he left for Beacon, he had his sister re-read his words to him over and over, even though he had long since memorized each one. He couldn’t rely on handwriting or color like most people, so he had to know by word choice alone.

And so it was that when he lined up at Beacon Cliff with his fellow initiates and heard about the “eye contact” system, he was just about ready to walk away and apply to Haven instead. But he stayed anyway, and launched into the air with his classmates.

He carved his way down a tree with the blades on his arms. His semblance told him there was someone nearby facing him and standing fairly still. He still wasn’t very good with facial expressions; that was a level of detail he couldn’t keep up for very long at a time.

“This whole ‘eye contact’ thing doesn’t work for me,” he said drily to the figure, a tall girl wearing an audible amount of accessories and carrying an enormous minigun.

There was a moment’s pause. Then the girl spoke with a smooth, confident voice that shook him to his core: “The name’s Coco Adel. Nice to finally meet you, sweetheart.”

Fox grinned. “Thanks for that. You’re the only one of my three who was kind enough to introduce themselves.” Since it was a special occasion, he spent a bit more aura to get a long, detailed look at her. She was beautiful - self-assured, graceful, and strong. But what he really wanted was to hear more of her voice.

He didn’t have to wait long. “No problem,” she said. “You certainly had an attention-grabber yourself. I have three as well, but you’re the first I’ve met.” God, her voice… and she was new to this too. That was reassuring.

“I haven’t met my other two either,” he admitted, and he heard her exhale quietly. He continued, “My name’s Fox Alistair.”

She chuckled. “Fox indeed,” she said, and he smiled again. They were going to get along just fine.

He didn’t know how to ask, so he just went for it: “I don’t mean to be forward, since we’ve just met, but I think you’re a bit of a special case so I don’t mind if you don’t.”

“Oh?”

“Could you take a look at my other soul marks? I wonder if they have the same colors and handwritings as yours.”

“Sure. Do you mind if I take a look at your third one as well?”

“Go ahead. Yours is on my shin,” he said, pulling up one pants leg. 

She whistled. “That’s surreal. Definitely my name in my handwriting. I guess my parents picked the right color for my name, too.”

He remembered his sister mentioning as much - that the name Coco was in cocoa brown. He pulled down his right glove to reveal the one he’d been told was green - the color of plants. Extending his arm, he explained, “Hands-on exhibit, so to speak. I can keep track of you better if I can feel you, so feel free to touch the merchandise.”

She nodded, realized the gesture was wasted, then said, “Got it.” Under her breath, she added, “and I will most  _ definitely  _ be touching your merchandise.” Fox grinned as she caught his intended meaning. Flirting with her felt as natural as breathing, and her unabashed interest was encouraging.

Coco took his hand in hers, angling the attached blade away from them both, and examined his soul mark. “Yeah, this is the same color and handwriting from my back. Looks like we share this soulmate, so we at least have a triad. And the other?”

“Back of my neck,” he said, using his free hand to pull down the back of his shirt - carefully, to keep from slicing either of them with his arm-blade.

She put her other hand on his shoulder before letting go of his hand, and walked around to his back to take a look. “This one too. Mine’s behind my left ear, but yeah, same color and handwriting. I wonder if they’re soulmates with each other?”

Fox chuckled. “That would make things a lot easier.”

Coco agreed, then thought of something. “You know, it’s funny - I have three soulmarks, but I can only see one of them without cameras or mirrors or shit. And that one’s yours.”

This time, Fox laughed out loud. “The universe really has a sense of irony, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” said Coco. “Fuck the universe, seriously.”

“Seriously.”

***

Yatsuhashi came from a quiet, middle-class family in Vale. He was the tallest and strongest of everyone in his family, and just as extraordinarily, he took closely after his parents in kind-heartedness. When he developed three soulmarks, his mother declared he was destined for great things. He didn’t really set much stock in such declarations, but did feel called to serve, and so became the first huntsman in the family.

His soulmarks were in brown and red, like rich earth ready to be planted, or blood in varied stages of drying. He knew the union of the two images would be at a huntsman academy, and the uniforms at Beacon called to him, in shades of red and brown.  He knew he’d made the right choice when he met his first soulmate during Beacon’s initiation.

She had swung in on a hard-light grappling hook, landing acrobatically right at his feet. She’d had to look almost directly upward to meet his eyes, and the rabbit ears that comprised a substantial amount of her height swung back to let her see. She was beautiful, with long, chocolate-brown hair and matching eyes that cheerfully made contact with his own. When she’d introduced herself with words he’d known for years, he was surprised and delighted. His combat partner was one of his soulmates! He carefully considered his next words, knowing that whatever he said had shaped her ideas of him long before today.

“I look forward to working together for a long time.” Her delight shone in her face and bubbled up in her movement as she showed him his own handwriting on her shoulder. He obliged with his right ear, and introduced himself. When she repeated his name, with gravity and respect, he felt as if that moment was one of the “great things” his mother had predicted. Together the two soulmates set out into the forest.

He decided to be upfront about his other marks. “I should tell you, I have two other soulmates.”

She smiled, and he felt himself melt a bit in the warmth of it. “Me too! Do you think they’re the same ones?”

“There’s one way to find out.” He pulled down the diagonal edge of his undershirt, revealing the red standard printed on his chest. In recognition, she moved her wrist up to meet it. It had standard too, in the same color. 

Seeing the opportunity, he took her outstretched hand in his own and bowed to kiss it. She blushed and said, “What a gentleman.” He wasn’t normally one for flirting, but she was just so  _ cute _ .

When he released her hand, she pulled down the waist of her leggings to show familiar brown script on her hip. He pulled up the left leg of his pants, revealing the same handwriting on his knee.

“So, we do share!” she said.  “I wonder if they have any other soulmates, besides us.”

“I wonder.”

After a brief pause, she said, “So, tell me about yourself!”

He gave her a quick rundown of himself: his hobbies, his hometown, his family. She listened intently with both sets of ears, interjecting with “me too”s and “wow, really?”s that felt heartfelt and genuine. Some part of him registered that she’d probably faced hell because of those ears, and the thought saddened and angered him.

Suddenly, one of those ears twitched. A low rumble from far ahead caught Yatsuhashi’s attention; from Velvet’s reaction, she could hear what was going on far better than he could.

She ran towards the sound and shouted at what must have been the top of her voice, though it wasn’t very loud: “Look out! Ursa at seven o’clock!” Despite her low volume, the figure she was running towards heard her and promptly shouted back “Thanks for the heads up!” They turned and eviscerated the approaching ursa with the scarlet blades on their arms.

Turning back to his partner, Yatsuhashi saw that she’d frozen in her tracks, and looked up at him with alarm. “Those are my red standard words,” she said. “They’re wearing the same color, too.”

He nodded and replied, “It looks like they had to take care of the grimm first, but they’ll be back. Wait here so they’ll know where we are.”

Velvet nodded in response, beginning to ramble. “They look pretty good in a fight, hopefully they can be on our team! I just hope I can keep up with you all.” she looked up at him nervously.

He smiled in what he hoped came across as reassurance. “You seemed perfectly capable earlier. And if you have any trouble, I’ll gladly join you for extra training.”

“Thanks.” She waited nervously for the redhead’s return.

A small explosion caught the pair’s attention, as did rumbling automatic gunfire. The reassuring sight of dissipating grimm smoke wafted up toward the treetops, and the figure in red ran towards them. Velvet ran to close the gap, and grabbed them in a hug (which was returned after a moment of surprise). As Yatsuhashi walked toward them, he overheard their conversation.

“...my name’s Velvet Scarlatina, it’s so good to meet you! You really killed it out there. It was super impressive.” The two of them babbled on, introducing themselves and blushing madly. From what Yatsuhashi could tell, his name was Fox, and he was kind and reassuring towards Velvet. Yatsuhashi noticed that his eyes were pure white, and his attention followed the sound of her voice more than her energetic motions. He filed that away to ask about later.

Behind Fox, a tall brunette dressed to the nines collapsed a huge minigun into a handbag. She walked up behind Fox, presumably her partner, and nodded behind her sunglasses at Yatsuhashi. He bowed slightly, to which she smiled. 

Velvet seemed to suddenly remember she wasn’t alone with Fox, and reached for Yatsuhashi’s hand. “This is Yatsuhashi. He’s one of my other two soulmates. We met just a few minutes ago, and, well, from what it looks like…” she blushed, pulling Yatsuhashi toward Fox.

Fox spoke in his direction. “Does this mean what I think it means?”

Yatsuhashi smiled and nodded, hearing the question printed on his chest. “It would appear so. It’s an honor and a privilege to meet you.” He was already quite taken with the shorter man, who was quite handsome and apparently capable, friendly, and intelligent.

“My name’s Fox Alistair.”

“Yatsuhashi Daichi,” he replied.

Velvet squealed. “Aaah, I knew it! This is so exciting! Fox, Yatsuhashi and I both have one more after you…”

***

Being the wealthy daughter of a businessman and a lawyer, most people expected Coco Adel to be either a vapid, privileged party girl or an overworked robot with a predetermined career. She was neither. She really didn’t have to pick a career that required her to risk her life, but she did anyway. Instead of starting her own business, or applying to law school, she forged her own weapon and enrolled in combat school.

Expensive taste as most people would have ascribed to her meant lavish parties at private villas, a life of luxury and decadence. Expensive taste when applied to being a huntress meant using a gun that went through high-caliber dust ammo like it was nothing, wearing high-profile fashion into battle, and having extra tutors for hand-to-hand combat. Her parents didn’t appreciate all the money being spent on a career they thought she’d leave a few years after starting. But then again, they didn’t appreciate her three soul marks either, so as far as Coco was concerned, she didn’t need their appreciation for everything. And anyway, having a kid who flew through combat school was a bolster to their reputation, so they didn’t outright complain. Nor did they try to argue with fate.

Her parents had taught her one thing that she took to heart, though: always be prepared. Specifically, gather all the information you can and use it to plan for every eventuality. She made that her motto, both in combat and in day-to-day life. Standard writing mentioning a problem with eye contact drove her to research on how to be a good ally to autistic people (if lack of eye contact and no writing  _ weren’t  _ connected) and blind people (if they were). A pick-up line, shakily executed, in brown led her to internet forums for beginner pick-up artists, but she looked up gambling communities too, just in case it wasn’t a pick-up line at all.

Her preparation and hard work served her well, carrying her all the way to Beacon Academy. Her first night there, before initiation, she tried all sorts of flirty one-liners with her new schoolmates, but they only received normal responses. She tried to think of some good ones while she lay in her sleeping bag on the ballroom floor. Specifically, ones that would generate the responses she’d already known for years.

The next morning on Beacon Cliff, as the headmaster explained the process for pairing up, she beamed. She had an idea of exactly what was going to happen.

And so it did. When she landed, an agile, wiry boy with dual hand-blades and simple clothes came face-to-face with her, and looked right through her. He faced her for a moment, tilting his head back and forth for a moment before sighing exasperatedly. “This whole ‘eye contact’ thing doesn’t work for me,” he said. 

What Coco loved best about the soul mark system was the power it gave her. She could take her time to craft the perfect response, and whatever it was, it had already been written on his skin for years, had subtly shaped his life. She decided to give him a straightforward introduction. He’d know her by name, not for her parents but for herself.

“The name’s Coco Adel,” she started, and enjoyed the expression that lit up his face as she spoke. “Nice to finally meet you, sweetheart.”

He introduced himself as Fox Alistair, and explained his other two soul marks, flirting wherever he found an opportunity. She flirted back in kind, and followed his instructions on how to handle his blindness. Together they came to the conclusion that they shared their remaining soulmates.

Fox’s semblance let him find the path easily, and they were discussing the finer points of her own when he froze and muttered, “Grimm behind us, and two approaching classmates from our right.”

Sure enough, a shout rang out from the forest to their right: “Look out! Ursa at seven o’clock!”

Fox stiffened, took a deep breath, shouted back, “Thanks for the heads up!” and then winced at his choice of words. He turned back to Coco. “Keep an eye on her, would you? I need to talk to her. I’ll take care of this.”

Coco looked over. The girl and her companion had stopped where they were, so there wasn’t much for her to do. She looked over at Fox, who was ably handling the Ursa. Hearing more grimm behind her, she unfolded her purse and took them out before they could get close.

The monsters dissipated into clouds of black smoke. Fox ran directly toward the two figures, and Coco followed at a leisurely pace. The two distant figures were bedecked head-to-toe in their respective colors, which matched the two soul marks she and Fox shared. If she remembered correctly, the girl had said his light brown words. Which meant the first words the two girls would share had been predestined. She grinned, planning what she’d say to get the response she knew was coming.

As she reached the spot where Fox and the girl were talking excitedly, she looked at the girl’s companion. He was a giant of a man, seven feet tall and ripped, carrying a sword that was as long as she was tall. She nodded at him, and he bowed his head in acknowledgement. She smiled.  _ A man of few words. Probably deduced what’s going on, same as I have. Wants to wait until they’re done. Smart, strong, and polite. Excellent. _

She listened to the conversation going on to her right. Apparently the tall boy’s name was Yatsuhashi, and the girl’s name was Velvet. Furthermore, they were soulmates, so the four of them would all be soulmates with each other.

As Velvet introduced the two boys, they said each other’s words, and Velvet squealed. “Aaah, I knew it! This is so exciting! Fox, Yatsuhashi and I both have one more after you, do you have any others?” Coco chuckled to herself.

Fox was still grinning dazedly from meeting his second and third soulmates, but managed to smile wider. “Yes, as a matter of fact she’s right here.” He gestured to Coco.  _ Time to shine. _

Stepping forward, she turned up the charm and asked, “Hey, short stuff. What are the odds?”

Velvet beamed, took a deep breath, and spoke like she’d been rehearsing her response. “Even if the odds were a million to one, it looks like you’re that one! Or, rather, one of three.” God, she was cute. Her earnest eyes were the same color brown as her hair and the fur on her rabbit ears. She was trying to look alluring, and failing, which was somehow alluring even so. Coco leaned over and kissed her nose, which started her blushing and sputtering.

“I certainly am, cutie. My name’s Coco Adel. I take it yours is Velvet.”

“I, ah- Yes! Velvet Scarlatina. And meeting you means I’ve met all three of my soulmates since landing in this forest.”

Fox chimed in, “As have I!”

Coco turned to Yatsuhashi. “Any chance you’re my missing piece?”

Yatsuhashi nodded. “If that’s how you’d like to phrase it.” 

With that, for the third and final time, Coco heard one of her soulmarks spoken out loud. “Fair enough,” she replied. She looked around at the three of them. Velvet looked fairly giddy, Fox still looked dazed, and Yatuhashi was smiling serenely. They were so- loveable. She could easily see herself falling for all three of them. It would take work, and it would take time, but they had a shot at something beautiful. Speaking of which...

Coco broke the momentary silence. “So, if they don’t put the four of us as a team I’m pretty sure we could start an international uproar.”

Velvet laughed. “Are we in a fairy tale? A combat team at Beacon that’s also a self-contained soulmate quad.”

Fox added, “If I tried to tell that story, I’d be told it was too unrealistic.”

“And understandably so,” said Yatsuhashi.

“We’ll probably make local headlines for a while,” said Coco. “But I’m willing to face that together with you all. Seems like we’ll be facing a lot worse than a few unwanted cameras, too.”

Fox tilted his head. “Speaking of which, there are some beowolves between us and our destination. They haven’t come this way -- I think the overwhelming positive emotions going on here are keeping us pretty safe -- but we do need to reach the forest temple at some point.”

Velvet giggled. “We must be a grimm’s worst nightmare right now. A full team of huntsmen and huntresses in training, armed to the teeth and having one of the best days of our lives.”

“What’s today’s date?” asked Fox. “I have a feeling we should all remember it.”

Grinning, Coco agreed. She’d just met all three of her soulmates, and the four of them turned out to be a Beacon combat team. And the morning was just beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> I met a traveller from an antique land,  
> Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone  
> Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,  
> Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,  
> And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,  
> Tell that its sculptor well those passions read  
> Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,  
> The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;  
> And on the pedestal, these words appear:  
> My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;  
> Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!  
> Nothing beside remains. Round the decay  
> Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare  
> The lone and level sands stretch far away."


End file.
